Fence-post.



W. A. SWIM.

FENCE POST. APPLICATION FILED AUG.31, 1912.

1,076,328, M Patenteaoct.21,1913.

5 Syl/venlo@ WILLIAM A. swII/I, or ALMENA, KANSAS;

'FENCE-PUQ Specification olf Letters Patent.

Patented Oct. 21, 1913.

" nlication lcdAugust 31,1912. Serial No, 718,070.

To all whom it may concern.'

Be it. known that I, Homan A. SWIM, a citizen of the United States,residing at Almeria, in the county of Norton and State of Kansas, haveinvented new and useful Improvements in Fence-Posts, of which thefollowing is a specification.

An object of the invention is to provide a post ,comprising a pluralityot' parts, one of which constitutes a supporting member for supportingthe wiresI of the` fence, andl the other ot' which constitutes a lockingmember for securing the wires in locked and supporting position on theiirst or supporting lnember. 1

In the t'urther disclosureof the invention reference is to be had to theaeoonrpanying drawings, constituting a part of this specification, inwhich similar ycharacters otl ret'- erence denote corresponding parts inall the views, and in which:

Figure 1 is a fragmentary perspective view of a tence showing the wiresthereof supported by my fence post; Fig. i. is a vertical sectional viewtaken on the line QMQ in Fig. 1; Fig. 3 is a horizontal transversesectional view taken on the line 3-3 in Fig. 1; and Fig. et isaperspective view of the locking member; Fig. 3 is a horizontal sectionalview taken on the line 5--5 in dig. 2.

Referring more particularly to the views, use is made of an upright 10preferably formed ol metal of a U-shapc in cross section, the saidupright having a base 'l1 tor insertion in the ground or in concrete andprovided above the base with a series of horizontally arranged siots l).adapted to receive therein wires 13 of a te ce 14, thus retaining thewires 13 in spaced relation as shown in `Fig. 1.

A. locking member 15 is provided for the uprightltO, the said lockingmember being preferably made et metal of a U-shape in cross section, thesaid locking member being provided with a longitudinally extending slot.1G, forming curved flanges 17 adapted to engage the wires 13 and securethe same within the slots 1'2 when the locking member 15 is mounted onthe upright 10 by being placed within the 'upright as shown in Fig. 1.'Stop lugs 18 are formed on the lower end of the locking 'member 15 andare adapted to engage th base 11 of -the upright 10 for the purpose otpreventing lthe locking member 15 trom sliding downwardly on theupright, a securing pin 19 Q0 formed at the lower end thereot andadjacent to the stop lugs 1S, the said lip being adapted rto extend intothe base 11 of the upright 1t), the mentioned base 11 being preferablyof a tubular nature in order that when the locking member 15 .is mountedon the upright 10 the lip 20 will readily eX- tend into the tubular baseso that after the pin 15)- is mounted in place the accidental removal ofthe locking member 15 will be prevent-ed.

1t will be noted that after the wires 13 of the fence 14 are arranged inthe slots 12 of the upright 10 and the locking member 15 is placed inposition on the upright, the pressure exerted by the ian'ges 17 of thelockingmember 15 against the wires 13 will tend to bend the wiresbetween the slots 12 of tbe upright, thus producing a tension on thewires so that the same will'not sag and will lie in substantiallyhorizontal lines.

Having thus described my invention, claim:

As a new article of manufacture, a fence post comprising a U-shapedupright having a tubular base for insertion in the ground and having anupper portion of the upright provided with a series ot' horizontallyarranged slots adapted to receive wires therein' and support the same inspaced Arelation o-n the upright, a locking member, U-sbaped inr crosssection and having a medially arranged longitudinally extending slot andcurved longitudinal parallel ianges, spaced apart and constituting thewalls of the said slot, with the said flanges engaging the wires on theupright to secure the same in the inner ends of the slots and whollywithin the slots So that the said Wires will lie beyond the verticalplane of the upright when the locking member is engaged therewith, andspaced integral stop lugs formed on the lower 'end of the looking memberby cutting away the edges ther-eet', with the said stop lugs engagingthe tubular base to support the locking member on the upright,

a pin passing' transversely through the upper end of the upright and theockng Inen-` ber, und a lip formed on the lower end of the lookingmember by the out away portions thereof, with the said lip projectingdownwardly beyond the stop lugs and into the ubular base of the upright.

In esfmony whereof axmy signature in presence of two Wltnesses.

1Wtnessee E. B. GMFFIN, ANDREW DYART.

